1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to transducer suspension systems and more particularly to a suspension system which uses an adhesive bond.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Direct access storage devices (DASD), or disk drives, store information on concentric tracks of a rotatable magnetic recording disk. A magnetic head or transducer element is moved from track to track to record and read the desired information. Typically, the magnetic head is positioned on an air bearing slider which flies above the surface of the disk as the disk rotates. In some recently proposed disk drives, the slider (or carrier) rides on a liquid film or bearing on the disk. A suspension assembly connects the slider to a rotary or linear actuator. The suspension assembly provides support for the slider.
Examples of suspension systems are shown in the following references: U.S. Pat. No. 5,652,684, issued Jul. 29, 1997, by Harrison et al; U.S. Pat. No. 5,623,759, issued Apr. 29, 1997, by Thorson et al; U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,183, issued Oct. 4, 1994, by Olson; U.S. Pat. 4,700,250, issued Oct. 13, 1987, by Kuriyama; IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin Vol. 39, No. 10, Oct. 1996, page 101; IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin Vol. 39, No. 3, Mar. 1996, page 49; Japanese Patent Application 6-89498 published Mar. 29, 1994 by Shinichi; and Japanese Patent Application 8-241562 published Sept. 17, 1996.
The suspension is attached to an actuator arm of the actuator motor. The actuator motor is used to move the transducer head from track to track on the recording disk. High capacity disk drives typically have a plurality of recording disks arranged in a disk stack. Actuator arms are located between two disks typically having two suspensions attached, one to access the disk surface above and one to access the disk surface below.
One method used to attach a suspension to an actuator arm is swaging. A swage ball is passed through a swage plate rivet located in an aperture of the actuator arm and expands the rivet such that it grips the inside wall. A problem with swaging is that the swage plate rivet adds to the vertical dimension of the arm/suspension assembly. Also, the swage process can impart some unwanted distortions to the actuator and the suspension.
What is needed is a suspension attachment which takes up very little space and does not distort the parts.